Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 29.0%, acquiring a total of 26,954 shares worth approximately $3 million.
• Other institutional investors significantly boosted their positions, with Goldman Sachs increasing its stake by 60.3%, and New Vernon Capital raising their stake by an astonishing 12,664.1%.
• Novartis reported quarterly earnings of $2.42 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.3% to $14.05 billion.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 29.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,954 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,052 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $3,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock worth $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after buying an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,535,000 after buying an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $24,763,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $126.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50-day moving average is $121.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.51. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $130.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.50.

About Novartis

Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.

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